Triton Method with ARID

[Robert's Reef]

Hello, Well I had some good luck and bad luck. My ARID finally arrived yesterday and my BPR's pump failed sometimes in the past three days. Good timing....kinda.
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So, I'm going to be firing up the ARID this weekend, 4 weeks before going on vacation. I'm interested in comments about if I should change anything about the Triton method implementation process because I've lost my BPR? (I have placed the bio-pellets in a sock in a high flow area so I'm at least getting some filtration.) My Nitrate levels have always been historically low and I can see just the start of some hairy algae. I'm no where near crashing the tank at this point.
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Here is what I'm planning on doing.
1) Day One: Start up the ARID and change to the Core7 Triton method reagents. Any Chaeto that doesn't fit into the ARID I was going to put in a sock in the sump, just as a precaution. Measure the Nitrate. Keep the photo period down to 4 hours/day until I see growth. Stop the UV but keep the carbon and gfo reactors going along with the protein skimmer. I'll start wet skimming and changing the sock every other day.
2) Day Two: start dosing the manganese/ nitrate & molybdenum reagents as prescribed by Pax Bellum. I'll start monitoring my nitrate levels daily at this time for any rise.
3) Subsequent days, monitor nitrate and alkalinity levels and make any adjustments. Remove bio-pellets from sump when nitrate levels decrease.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks, Robert

 

[mcarroll]

Sounds like you're heavy into a numbers chase! Careful pounding on N if you haven't balanced the rest of your nutrients. Dino's like to bloom under those circumstances.

Chaeto can't grow and use N without an ample supply of P so double check!

If biopellets already aren't dealing with the N then it's very likely you have a shortage of something else (like P) as they have similar limitations to algae. (They can generally use lower level of N or P than algae though.)

Personally, I would start off by removing the bio-pellets and reassess.

 

[Robert's Reef]

Thank you. You made a good point. I have to start wanting N in my system. I have to change my way of thinking. Thanks!